Less

A few times in my life I’ve experienced “tiny house living.” More, if I count my dorm rooms in college or traveling as a singer on a tour bus. As an adult, the honest reason was financial setbacks. Maybe you’ve had them too – or even have them now. They can happen for many reasons. It isn’t something anyone is comfortable talking about, so I’ll be brave and go first.

For me, life events like caring for a parent for seven years, changes in the industry I work in, the pandemic, and working on long-term business projects to regroup and recover tapped out my resources. Like sets of ocean waves after you fall off your surfboard, it’s hard to catch your breath when big waves just keep coming and coming. After a while, it’s hard to know which way is up anymore and you wonder if you’ll drown.

After having two houses, I had to start renting again. For a while I even rented from good friends in their home and, to a degree, lived in the middle of their lives. Over 75% of my things went into storage (more on that later) and it felt like a part of my life went with them…

I was always thankful that God somehow met my needs, but restless to have my own home and my freedom back again. As time moved on, what used to be was farther and farther away. It also seemed my ability to fix the situation was farther too. My circumstances had separated me from the life I thought I would have had if things were different. 

I felt trapped in inertia. I wanted to escape every single day, but the path to freedom wasn’t opening, disappointments kept coming, and it seemed my future had been placed on indefinite hold as time kept ticking away. It was increasingly uncomfortable. Yet I kept inching forward, working as hard as I ever did. Never helpless, ever hopeful. As my best friend Diane would wisely say, “It’s not forever, it’s just for now.”

In the meantime, I watched many friends go on many vacations, buy homes, enjoy their lives and families and to be honest, it hurt. But as time went on, something happened. I started to think differently about having less. Instead, I discovered I had – enough. In fact, more than enough.

When I paid the bill on my storage unit every month, I wondered what it would be like to just light a match, throw it in, and walk away. I didn’t do it and wind up in jail, but why in the world did I think I still needed all that stuff? I didn’t miss it, I didn’t think about it, it wasn’t part of my life anymore. Because I had been separated from all that I originally had in my house and had inherited, I learned something about the essentials. I discovered what I really need – and what I never did. Most people never get that reality check.

I need: food, a roof over my head, a place to sleep, safety, electricity, water – and yes, other things – but less than I thought. I needed friends and people. I finally understood when all the extras were removed that it was actually God who was providing and paying for it all by giving me life, my health, and the ability to work.

Can less be more? Yes. In many ways.

Less house and yard? Less time cleaning, maintaining and repairing.

Less expensive possessions? More money for experiences and investing in people.

Less stuff in general? More clarity about what really matters and more money to help others who need it.

Here’s what Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

RESET HIGHER: Look around your life and take a spiritual inventory. Is there a healthy balance between what you need vs. what you want? If your possessions are possessing you, decide now to give more and buy less. Others here and around the world can be blessed by what you give – including your time. 

What is your treasure? Where is your heart?